Genesis
by CruxTheLove
Summary: It's been three months since the incident occurred. Naruto awakens, finding himself in an area that he doesn't know. Sakura has been waiting, left with the last gift he gave her. Meanwhile two sinister forces have come together to have revenge on the Leaf.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It felt cold, why did it feel cold? The boy wondered, the last thing he remembered was Granny had sent him on a B-rank mission with Kakashi and…and…damn it who else was with them, was it… "Arghhh," pain exploded into the left side of the boy's head forcing him to writher in pain and bite his cheek to suppress any screams that might have come out, it felt as if Baa-chan had punched him straight into a wall. He sat there, curled up into a ball until the pain slowly went away.

_"__Why did that just happen?"_He thought as he slowly uncurled himself and opened his eyes and as he observed his surroundings a new thought appeared in his head, "And how did I end up here?"

The blond-haired boy reached out, looking for any sort of indicator to tell where he was but couldn't get a grip on anything, it was dark and musty and from what he could tell it seemed like he was in some sort of cave.

"_Well that's just great_…" he thought to himself. He was starting to worry about how he would get out of here.

"_This is no time to sit and worry, you're Naruto Uzumaki! You'll find a way out of here."_

With that last thought he stood up, or at least he tried to because once he started to move his body he felt a wave of nausea and pain hit him and he stumbled around, he tried to hold put his hand on something to get some balance but all he ended up doing was falling forward. _"Aw shit-"_ was all he could think of before he struck his head against the side of a rock, knocking him out.

**-Meanwhile in Konoha-**

"Sakura-chan, are you awake sweetie?" Mebuki asked from the other side of the door, to her surprise she didn't hear an answer back.

"Sakuraaaaaaa-chan" said Mebuki; this time a bit louder "Are you awakeee" she waited for a response but yet again her pink-haired daughter hadn't responded.

"Alright I'm coming innnn" Mebuki stressed that last word, she knew Sakura hated when she barged in on her without asking so if she hadn't responded before she was bound to open the door now but she didn't, "Sakura, darling..."

Mebuki slowly unlocked the door preparing for the worst and took a step inside, when she looked inside the room though she exhaled, there lying on Sakura's bed was a note, she hurried over to it and picked it up and started to read it.

"_Dear Mom, don't worry I'm fine, I just decided to get up earlier today and go over to the training field, I wanted to train a bit on the off-chance that we would ever find him again, I'll be back in a little while. Love, Sakura.__"_

"That girl… she's just like me, worrying about those she cares for" Mebuki placed the letter back down and smiled, leaving the room and heading back down the stairs to tell her husband where her daughter went.

-**Near Ramen Ichiraku-**

The pink-haired girl was making her way down the street, waving to street vendors and shop owners as she made her way to Ichiraku's. By the time she got there, the lunch rush was ending so the restaurant didn't have many customers at this time and she was fine with that; it gave her some time to sit and think.

Entering the restaurant she waved to Ayame who smiled and waved back, proceeding along she took a seat near the back, she didn't want to be bothered by anyone now. Once she took a seat Ayame came over and asked "What can I get for you Sakura_-_chan?" she said politely, but Sakura didn't respond, she was gazing out of the window and was lost in her own thoughts. "Alright I'll just tell Teuchi to make your usual..." she said quietly, and then left.

_"Why didn't I see it, why didn't I try to stop him from going, now he's gone and I might never see him again," _she thought to herself, tears threatening to spill from her emerald-green eyes. She had thought about it every night, each time a different theory running through her head, every single time, every fucking time she'd lose him, no happy ending, no way to make him stay.

She thought back to that day, three months ago when Tsunade had called her into her office, when she was first told about it she broke down, not believing what she heard.

**-Flashback-**

_"Thirty minutes ago I received news that the mission that was being carried out by Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Orochimaru has failed, as of right now everyone on that mission is missing and for all we kno-" she was cut off as an anbu appeared in her window, "Hokage-sama, we've just received word from the squad leader of Team B, apparently there was a body found at the last known location of where Kakashi's team was," he stated._

_Sakura felt a sense of dread come over her "oh no, oh no, oh no, please don't let it be Naruto, Kakashi, or...him, after everything he's done, bringing Sasuke back after their battle at the Valley of the End and even helping Kakashi and Jiraya capture and bring Orochimaru to the village for interrogation. He's done so much for me..for the village..more than I could ever repay him," she thought as worry creeped upon her._

_" Who...who was it?" She forced out, her voice wavering. The unnamed Anbu operative looked at her now._

_"Uhm, I'm not sure how to go about saying this..." He looked back at the Hokage, her face full of worry but she wasn't about to let anyone see her this way._

_"WELL?" She barked out at him, the anbu operative cowered at the words that were being spat out at him. He's faced some of the worst criminals in Konoha and his body has paid the toll for it yet he'd rather face each one of them again instead of receiving a scolding by the Hokage. She was relatively new to the position, being only there for 4 months but she acted as though she had been there much longer and was determined to show she was right for the job._

_"Well Hokage-sama it was rather difficult to figure out who's body it was, the body was charred, and there were multiple gashes all over the body but we figured out that it was-"_

***SLAM* **

"Here you go Sakura-chan" Ayame said as she put a bowl of ramen in front of Sakura, snapping her back to the present.

"Thank you Ayame-san" said Sakura softly as she slowly started eating.

She continued eating only stopping a few times to look and see if someone else was at the restaurant but she'd quickly return to the ramen, a sad look set across her face as she realized he wouldn't be there…

**A/N: Hello to anyone who's reading this, I just want to say that I am really thankful that you would take the time to read my story because this is my first story that I've ever written on here so I know that I won't be that good at the beginning but as I continue writing I hope I get better and I hope you guys are there to experience it with me. Also this is a rather long note so sorry for that I'll try to keep it shorter next chapter. Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**(Three Days Later)**

He woke up, confused at where he was, _'What happ-'_ he thought to himself before memories slowly started seeping into his mind. "That's right….I tried to get up but then..." he said to himself as he remembered what transpired soon after he got up.

He slowly moved his arms, being careful to not trigger the pain that had appeared last time when he decided to move. As he was about to see if there were any bruises or gashes on his head he heard a scrapping sound coming from deeper into the cave.

'_What was that?' _he thought to himself as he ever so slowly pushed himself up against the wall, when the sound didn't happen again he decided to take a step forward, preparing himself for the pain to appear but to his surprise it didn't. He tried looking around the cave, looking for any indicator of a way out but to no avail for he couldn't even tell which way was which.

"Damn it!" The boy cried out, "What the hell did I do to deserve this?" As those last words escaped him, he heard the scratching sound again, but this time it was followed by a grunt. "Shit…Not that's bad enough that I'm stuck in here, but now I'm hearing things," Naruto said and then without even thinking about what would happen he uttered out one word. "Hello?" He said ever so quietly and that's when it happened.

The scratching sound stopped so Naruto chuckled and said to himself "Haha, I think I've finally lost it Sakura-" he stopped as he realized something, _'Sakura…what happened to her, is she okay? I was so caught up in trying to figure out how to get out of here that I forgot about her. Where is she, is she alright?' _The blond-haired boy was so deep in thought that he didn't hear the scratching nose at first, then as it got louder and more feverish he stopped thinking about the pink-haired kunoichi and turned his attention to the sound.

Moving forward slowly, he thought to himself _'Maybe that sound is a way to get out of here' _he started to relax a little, a smile slowly emerging from his lips.

'_**Or maybe it's just leading you to your death boy' **_stated the Kyuubi_**.**_

"GAHH!" Naruto shouted out in surprise but then realized that the voice came from his head.

'_Where the hell have you been damn fox?' _pondered Naruto.

'_**I've been resting, I –er, was going to wake up anyday now,' **_retorted the Kyuubi.

Realization slowly dawned on the blond shinobi's face. _'You've been out as well haven't you fox?' _he remarked, a sly grin appearing on his face as he heard a low guttural growl coming from Kyuubi.

'_To think the great Kyuubi could be knocked out cold' _he chuckled quietly to himself.

'_**Shut your mouth boy…or I'll shut it for you' **_threatened the fox.

'_What could you d-'_ was all the boy could say before a wave of pain slammed into him.

'_**The only reason you're on your own two feet right now is because of me and my healing powers' **_growled the fox angrily.

'_Al-Alright, alright I'm sorry I made fun of you Kyuubi…just p-p-please stop whatever you're doing and let me heal back up'_ he croaked out before falling on his knees, unable to support himself anymore.

'_**Hmph, I have no choice..'**_ he almost considered letting the boy sit there and deal with real pain for a little bit longer but realized that the only way out of this crummy cave was through this boy, no matter how annoying he got.

'_This pain..what is it, I haven't felt something like this in so..so..long' _he thought, yellow splotches started showing up in his vision and he was feeling a sense of nausea come over him. _'Please..i'm sorr..' _was all he could he muster before a wave of energy shot into him.

'_**You should be fine now boy'**_huffed the fox begrudgingly. Oh he would have loved to torture the boy a little bit longer but alas, he needed to get out of here, he hated caves.

'_**Get up boy!"**_ yelled the fox.

'_Shut it..damn fox'_ thought Naruto as he slowly stood back up, never again did he want to experience something like that. _'By the way..it'll take a lot more than that to keep my down for good.'_

'_**Yo-' **_was all the Kyuubi could say before he was interrupted by the scratching sound.

Turning his attention to it he asked _'Kyuubi do you know where that's coming from, more importantly if there's an exit to this damned cave anywhere around here?'_ Naruto questioned the Kyuubi

'_**Grrr..yes I knew where the exit was from the moment I awoke, there's only one thing….' **_The Kyuubi trailed off.

'_What's that?' _Naruto pondered questionably.

'_**Well two things to be exact, First it sounds like someone is making that sound and secondly to get to that exit you need to get past that someone' **_the nine-tailed fox stated vaguely

'_Can you tell who it is?' _Naruto whined

'_**Unfortunately no….which is strange, usually I can but there's something foul about this person's chakra, it's as if someone had tampered with it' **_the Kyuubi said, confused.

'_Tampered? No it couldn't be, how could It, I thought that person was..' _his thought trailed off, unable to believe it was them.

**(Near Otogakure)**

The man landed gently outside of the boulder, he had just come back from a quick little task of espionage and his body was tired. _'I'm getting tired of this damn village,'_ he thought to himself as he quickly formed a few handsigns. _'Next time…next time I'll make sure to find a better spot for a base and then that damned village will know pain.'_ As he finished forming the handsigns the part of the boulder that he was standing in front of receded back into the ground and the man proceeded into boulder.

As he made his way deeper underground he realized that the others weren't there, otherwise there'd be a lot of yelling. He enjoyed the quiet and as he entered the laboratory he started going to work, he was determined to make his creation even more powerful and as he saw in that battle, the original version wasn't as strong as it had once been, more people were being able to resist his call when it activated and that didn't make him happy. As he was working he muttered to himself, "I'll have that boy one day, I will, and when I do…" he smiled as he thought of the endless possibilities he'd have access to when he had the body.

'_That'll be the day'_ thought the person who was hiding right outside of the entrance to the laboratory. He turned his back to the lab and started on his way back to the other person. _'Can't wait until he hears this'_ the boy thought as he smiled slyly. He took on a serious look as he formed a quick handsign and the lab that he was just at started glowing radiantly, then it exploded_. 'Jobs done'_ he thought, that sly smile returning to his face as the laboratory that was just standing was reduced to rubble.

**A/N: Thank you for everyone who read, favorited, and followed my story, it means the world to me that you guys are enjoying this story. Anyways I'll be trying to update weekly, every Sunday is when I hope to have a new chapter so that's when it'll be up, if anyone was wondering. One last thing, have a great day c:**


	3. Chapter 3

**Review Response**

**Tony Blu- I'm kinda bad when it comes to detailing, it's not that I want to it's just I have a habit over detailing things and to me at least, that takes away from the story. Also I would love to update more quickly but I can't, at least for now. I don't really have my whole story set before I start writing, I usually just go with the flow of how the stories progressing. Until I actually can get these chapters out quicker, I hope you can bear with waiting a week, because I try to update every Saturday or Sunday. **

**Chapter 3**

**(In Konoha)**

The pink-haired kunoichi was making her way to the hokage tower to report about the c-rank mission she had just completed when she heard the sound. It was a low rumble at first, nothing to be too surprised with; she had thought it was just one of the many new genin teams practicing.

Whenever they were practicing they had always tried to show off to one another and this usually ended with one of them trying a jutsu that was way too high of a level for them to execute. It happened almost daily and usually there was at least one nin who'd be injured by the jutsu and subsequently sent to the hospital.

Sakura had guessed that this was just another one of those moments but as she finally reached the hokage tower the low rumble became louder and louder, and then it stopped.

'_Huh,' _she wondered _'That almost sounded like an explosion, but not like any of the ones that those genin have caused before, I wonder if Tsunade-sama knows anything about it.' _She picked up her pace as the thought gnawed away at her.

Making her way up towards the top of the tower she finally reached the Tsunade's office and was about to ask if she may enter when she heard two voices, one was the hokage's but the other was…Jiraya? _'What's Jiraya doing here?'_ she thought as worry plagued her mind. _'Could it have to do with that sound I heard earlier?' _

She stood right outside of her office, being careful to mask her presence and started listening to the conversation that they were having, "Jiraya that sound just now was that who I think it is?" she said, worry laced through her voice.

"No way of knowing yet. But it's definitely a possibility." he retorted carefully.

"Shizune was telling me about them, apparently they were here in the village awhile ago." Tsunade stated

'_Who are they talking about?'_ Thought the kunoichi curiously.

"I heard about that, they were looking for Naruto weren't they? Jiraya said dejectedly.

"From what I've been told, yes, yes they were" Tsunade acknowledged softly.

"But then what was that? If that was them why would they do something like that? It's like they're just asking for us to come and check it out." Proclaimed Jiraya curiously.

"Maybe that's exactly what they want us to do" avowed Tsunade, in a monotone voice.

**(Back in the cave)**

'_What was that, Kyuubi?'_ Naruto asked.

"_**Hell if I know, I'd be more worried about what we're approaching, that explosion that you just heard sounded far. I wouldn't concern yourself with it" **_remarked the fox.

'_Oh okay…I just thought maybe that was Granny coming to look for me, she isn't very subtle about that kinda stuff.' _He addressed as his mind drifted back to that day.

_**(4 months ago)**_

_The door to the boy's apartment had been smashed to pieces and in walked the newly appointed hokage, safe to say the boy was scared shitless. _

"_Ha-Hai baa-chan" he stuttered, "What brings you to my place at this time of the day? Unless you plan to take me into your bed?" he inquired, hoping to make the Hokage smile._

"_Oh why yessssss" she purred evilly as she made her way towards the blond-haired baka._

_She took out four kunai and threw them at him. He shut his eyes as they sailed towards him 'Is this the end of the great Naruto Uzumaki?' he thought wistfully. As the kunai reached the destination he waited, and waited for the pain to come upon him, but it never did._

_He slowly opened his eyes and nearly jumped back, or at least he tried to because as he moved he noticed where the kunai were. Out of the four kunai that were thrown there was one on each of his arms, and one on each of his legs, he was practically stapled to the wall he was up against. That's when he saw the Hokage take out a fifth one and start approaching him._

"_Ho-Hokage-sama wha-what's the meaning of this?" he squeaked out._

"_Oh ho ho, now you address me correctly, Naruto-kun?" she said that last word, sarcasm dripping from her voice._

_The boy shifted around carefully, 'What did I do to deserve this?' he thought to himself._

_Tsunade, as if reading his mind, answered his question._

"_So Naruto, you want to explain to me why my face on the monument happens to have a moustache painted on it, and don't lie to me, or else you'll regret it." She stressed that last part as she started twirling the kunai in her hand._

"_I um, have no i-" he was cut off as Tsunade threw the kunai at him. It landed very close to what made him a man._

"_Now now Naruto, what did I say?"She cooed. "The next thing you say better be the truth or else I'll make sure I don't miss with this kunai." _

"_Okay okay, so um I was making my way home from Ichiraku's when I decided to take a little detour" he said fearfully. "Anyway a part of this detour had me passing by the monument and well I um..umm" he started moving around as whispered out the last part. "I painted a moustache on your face. "But don't worry I can go remove it right now if you'd like oh wonderful and youthful Hoakge-sama" he said, hoping that would get him off the hook._

"_Damn right I'm youthful.." she muttered. "But anyway yes, go take care of it."_

_He exhaled and started to relax as Tsunade said one more thing._

"_And when you're done with that, come by my office, you're going to be my personal assistant for a week, alongside Shizune that is." She smiled as she realized how much fun this is going to be. _

'_I can make that baka do all that damned paperwork on my desk.' Her face lit up at the thought of not having to do any paperwork for a week._

"_Wh-what?" shouted Naruto, his head hurting from thinking about all the things he'd have to do for her._

"_You heard me." She stated coolly as she turned around and started exiting his apartment. She nearly made it through the door when she stopped. "Oh and Naruto-kunnn, if something like that every happens again" she giggled, in a way that scared the blond-haired nin. "Well, let's just say I won't be as nice next time around as I was today." She finished saying as she departed from the boy's home._

'_Th-that was nice?' He shuddered as he thought of what would happen if he did something like that again. "Well I better start working on cleaning it-" was all he said before he realized those kunai were still pinning him to the wall. _

"_Uhm, hello? Baa-chan I think you forgot to take these." He said, hoping she would appear and help him, but as he waited another five minutes for her return he realized she wouldn't be coming back._

'_Dammit, this is going to be one hellish week' he thought as he tried worming free from the kunai. _

"_BAA-CHAN" he shouted as he continued struggling. _

_Meanwhile she was walking through the streets when she heard it, she grinned and thought. 'That'll teach you to fuck with me baka.' As she made her way to the Hokage Tower she started thinking of all the things she's have him do. 'This'll be fun' was her last thought before she entered her office._

_**(One hour later)**_

_He was able to remove the two kunai from his jumpsuit and was taking out the last kunai from his pants when he realized the kunai had made considerable holes in the areas of the jumpsuit where they resided. 'Dammit now I'm going to have to get new clothes as well?' he scowled as he thought off all the things he went through in that jumpsuit only to have one pissed off Hokage finally finish them off._

'_Well maybe it's not that bad, maybe I can ask Sakura if she'd like to go shopping for new clothes with me, girls like to do that right?' He asked himself as his mind drifted to what could expire if they went shopping together. 'Wait wait wait' he stopped the thoughts as he realized what her probable answer would be. Ever since I brought Sasuke back she's been around him more than me. He slouched to the ground as he realized she probably wouldn't come with him and he decided to then ditch the idea. 'Maybe if I get her a gift she'll start liking me more than Mr. Perfect, but what..what would she like? Maybe I should go and ask Ino, they're good friends so she'd probably know what Sakura would like. Yea that's what'll do.' He got back up, energy filling him up as a new motivation started churning inside him. 'I'll make her realize how great I can be.' Was his thought as he raced off to the flower shop, a smile like a thousand suns dawning across his face._

_One week later he was free from Baa-chan's job._

_Two weeks later he was gone._

**A/N: Hi guys, hope you're having a wonderful day. I bring you the third chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it, out of the three chapters I've written it's been my favorite one to do so far. Also a bit of bad news, I'm going to this college and participating in a program they're doing, I'll be gone for about a week, so I'm going to try my hardest to write while I'm gone and I'll try my hardest to get Chapter 4 out on time (Every Sunday) but if I can't, I'll try to get it up Monday or Tuesday. Anyway thanks for reading and have a great day c:**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**XxAshishxX: He's there! I promise he's been there the whole time, I'm sorry if I don't make it clear enough.**

**Tony Blu: First off, you're dirty I see what you did their cx. Secondly I did write it rather quickly but I hope it was good nonetheless. Lastly, I'll start using the line bar, it looks better than (this shit).**

"_**Hey kid snap out of it" **_growled Kyuubi.

'_Sorry sorry..I was just thinking back to that day, haha. I wonder what Baa-chan's up to, does she miss me?' _ Naruto thought sadly as he made his way towards the exit.

'_**If only you knew, if only..' **_muttered the Kyuubi quietly, making sure the boy wouldn't hear him. _**'If he knew what they had done…what they still were doing to try to find him, he'd be ecstatic.'**_

Ever since Naruto had gone missing, the Hokage had been sending out team after team to try to find the boy, to any regular shinobi of Konoha they would think she was just trying to get back a very powerful weapon of Konoha's but to anyone who understood the relationship they shared they would understand how much his disappearance hurt her.

She was the Hokage, it was her duty to protect the Leaf yet she couldn't even protect the one ninja who had saved her.

* * *

_-Flashback Three Months Ago-_

"_H-h-he's dead?" lamented the pink-haired kunoichi, grief-stricken across her face. _

"_Yes" stated the Anbu operative. _

_As that single world left the operative's mouth the Hokage slammed her fist onto the desk, nearly shattering it._

"_Fuck, how the hell could this have happened, it was just a simple C-rank mission." She remembered when she received the mission; it was a simple mission really. It was just to investigate a tiny village in Otogakure. Normally she would have just refused the mission knowing of the village's ties to Orochimaru but with him captured and caught, locked away in one of Konoha's cells, she was confident that it would be an easy mission. That was until she realized that not many people had been to the village, and even fewer people had come back._

_With no knowledge of the layout of the village she decided to send a special team to go on the mission. The team she had sent consisted of 4 nin. Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Orochimaru._

_She was very hesitant to let that slithery bastard go but she realized his knowledge of the village would be very useful so against the council's wishes she sent him on it. She had also sent the raven haired boy, he had been itching to get out and prove his strength. Ever since Naruto had brought the boy back he was basically restricted to the hospital and she knew how much he hated that, so she let Kakashi take him to the training grounds to do some simple training. When Sasuke had demanded to up the intensity of the practice as he felt it wasn't good enough for him, Kakashi had swiftly refused. When his sensei wouldn't teach him anything he stormed off, basically going missing until later in the evening when he returned to the hospital. _

_After she had received news of the incident she effectively ended his practice. To say that enraged him, wouldn't do him justice, so a few times when he had tried to sneak out Tsunade would show up and "sedate" him, returning him to the bed._

_She understood how much it angered a shinobi to restrict them to doing basically nothing so she allowed him to go on the mission with Kakashi, Naruto, and Orochimaru. When she told him he was going on it she heard him mutter "not good enough" quietly as he returned to his slumber._

_She was confident that the group would have no problem with the mission and if Orochimaru tried anything she told Naruto and Kakashi to keep a close on him. Soon after the team left she had called in three anbu agents and told them to follow the team, just in case anything happened. She was confident that if Kakashi and Naruto weren't able to stop him, then the agents would at least be able to subdue him. She couldn't have been more wrong._

_-Flashback End-_

* * *

"I can't see a goddamn thing Kyuubi, are you sure this is the right way?" Whined the blond-haired ninja.

"_**Yes it's the right way, I told you before, the exit is by that foul-smelling chakra, and we're heading straight for it" **_scoffed the Kyuub, in an annoyed manner,

"Well if you say so.." Naruto trailed.

"_**We're almost ther-shit" **_the nine-tailed fox quaked, finally seeing where they were located.

"What's wrong fox? Cat got your…woah" intoned Naruto.

Naruto's jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw what made the Kyuubi stop talking. He had stumbled into a room, no more like a laboratory of sorts. All around the room laid different types of equipment. There were vials filled with almost every color the boy was familiar with on a table next to him. Across from that table there were machines that were make strange sounds, as if reacting to the boy's presence.

"Wait..what is this place Kyuubi?" croaked the boy.

"_**It seems like a laboratory but don't ask whose laboratory it is, I don't know" **_murmured the Kyuubi, analyzing the area.

"If it's a laboratory then could it be Orochimaru's?" Naruto questioned.

"_**That's possible, it could be one of his laboratories, but the thing is this one looks like it's been used recently and that should be impossible."**_ Affirmed the fox, shaking his head.

"Why would it be impossible?" Interjected Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"_**You helped capture him."**_ The Kyuubi proclaimed.

"I did?" Naruto questioned.

"_**Yes you did. You, Kakashi, and Team 8 successfully captured him and brought him back to the leaf."**_ Recalled the nine-tailed fox.

"I don't remember.." he tried thinking back to it but all that greeted him was a brief flash of pain. "Urgh, fuck that hurt. Kyuubi…why, why can't I remember? I couldn't remember how I ended up here, I can't remember that mission, what if I've forgotten something else important?" Groaned the blond-haired boy.

"_**Only time will tell boy, think is there anything, anyone that you feel like you're missing?" **_Kyuubi speculated.

"No..er I don't know!" he exclaimed sadly.

"_**Well no use in sitting around and trying to remember now, if we get out of here we'll try to figure out if anything's amiss."**_ Asserted the fox.

"What do you mean by i-" he stopped as he realized why the fox said "if." In the corner of the room, hidden under a table lied a person, at least that's what he thought it was. It was so skinny and frail; the only clothing that he could see was a plain piece of cloth draped over the shoulders of the person.

"Hey, hey you! Can you hear me?" Naruto bellowed, he hoped he would get a response of some kind from the person but as he waited he realized he wasn't going to get one. Knowing that nothing would come from him just shouting he decided to make his way over to the person, albeit very slowly. As he made his way closer the person he saw a movement come from them and then a familiar sound started again, the scratching.

"_**So this is where that insufferable sound resounded from, be careful Naruto I don't trust this person, they seem very dangerous" **_Kyuubi warned, eyeing the person skeptically.

Naruto gave a mental nod to the fox as he finally made it to the person. He tried tapping him on the shoulder but nothing happened. Then he looked over and what he saw nearly made him gag. The person's fingers, or what was left of them were covered in blood and dirt, it seemed the person was intent on scratching his way out of the room.

"Hey uh..buddy, can you hear me?" he softly said.

"_**Naruto.." **_growled the Kyuubi anxiously.

"What? It's not like he's resp-" his response was cut short as the person turned his head toward him, nearly making him jump back.

As the person slowly opened up their mouth, Naruto's eyes feel upon their face and his eyes widened, his lips were cracked and bloody, his cheeks were gaunt, and the way their eyes looked saddened Naruto to no end, it was as if someone had taken all the happiness out of his eyes and just left a desolate look.

"A-are y-y-you here to bring me to my masters?" the person's voice was barely audible; if Naruto hadn't been right next to them he wouldn't have heard them.

"Who, who are your masters?" a strange unsettling feeling came upon Naruto as he feared what this person's answer would be.

The person mumbled something, this time to low for Naruto to hear.

"What was that?" he asked curiously.

"I said…" as he was about to finish what he was saying he burst into a coughing fit. Splotches of blood escaped the boy's mouth and landed on Naruto's pants. Suffice to say he was disgusted.

"Hey, hey, are you alright? Do you ne-" he was cut off as the person put their hand over his and the coughing slowly stopped.

"Erhm, as I was saying, I-I'm looking for my masters do you happen to know where they are?" his eyes were full of sadness as he said it.

'_These "masters," must mean a lot to this kid, yet how could they leave him here in the condition he's in, that pisses me off if I meet his masters…' _

"What are their names?"

"Their names? Oh well its Master Kabuto and Master Orochimaru." He said cheerily.

**A/N: Well I'm back from the college, had an amazing time there it honestly wasn't I was expecting at all. Also sorry for the late release as I said I was going to be gone all week so I really didn't write at all so when I came back on Friday I devoted my time to getting out a chapter out quickly but I still wanted it to be goods that's why I was unable to upload on time. I hope you guys enjoyed it, have a great day c: **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Before you read, I'm going to clear some things up if you're confused.**

**Alright so I want to address the issue of what part of the canon the story is at. When Naruto and company go missing that takes place around the time of the anime when there was a bunch of filler arcs leading up to Naruto leaving to train with Jiraya. So that's what part it was at then. The part it's at now…well all I can say is that Naruto would be training with Jiraya, but because of what happened he isn't. **

**XxAshishxX: More of what happened during the mission will be revealed as the story progresses, there are a few people who knew what happened.**

**Mangaka Shuzen: I hope I cleared up some the confusion and I'm working on referring to people in a better way. **

"Wha-what was that? I think I'm still not feeling too good, who did you say your masters were again?" Naruto held his breath, hoping this person wouldn't repeat those two names again.

The person turned around to face Naruto and that's when he could tell it was a boy. At least it closely resembled one; there were no outstanding features to tell him otherwise.

"My masters?" the boy giggled, "I could get in trouble for calling them that, they usually just tell me to refer to them as Lord Orochimaru and Lord Kabuto, I don't think they deserve a title as low as lord, they are truly amazing, everyone should know how great they are." He smiled and that's when his lips cracked and started bleeding again.

"He-hey" stuttered Naruto. "Your lips are bleeding" he looked around, trying to find something to help stop the bleeding. Finally he decided to just a cut a piece off from cloth that lined the inside of his jumpsuit. As he finished removing the lining he looked back at the boy expecting there to be more blood, but to his surprise the bleeding had stopped.

"Hey what gives?" asked Naruto curiously.

"What do you mean?" responded the boy.

"You were just bleeding and n-" he was cut off as the boy started laughing.

"Hehe, don't you know how to do it?" said the boy, a smile across his face.

"Do what?" Naruto asked quickly

"It's simple really, all I do is stick my tongue like this," the boy proceeded to show Naruto his tongue, "And then I just send some of my chakra to my tongue." To Naruto's surprise his tongue started glowing green from the chakra that was flowing through it. "Finally I just run my tongue across the source of the bleeding and it stops." He said it like it was the easiest thing in the world to do.

"Who taught you that?" Naruto asked, now curious as to how the boy learned the technique.

"Why Lord Kabuto, he's quite renowned in medical jutsu." The boy said happily.

"Oh don't I know.." Naruto mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" The boy couldn't hear what he said.

"Oh nothing I was just telling myself how wonderful your two Masters sound." Naruto said sarcastically, to his luck the boy didn't catch it.

"Oh they are, they really are. Master Orochimaru himself made this place by himself and he found me and helped me." The boy responded.

"He found you? Do you have any parents?" Naruto asked it without even thinking.

"Parents?" the boy asked quizzically. "What are those?"

"You don't know what parents are? Well they're kinda like…they act like..but they can be.." Naruto trailed off, realizing he himself didn't really know what parents were like. All his life he had been alone, no parents, no brothers or sisters. The only parents he knew where those of the other kids in his class, they usually yelled and threw things at him, sometimes they'd vandalize his apartment. So really the only people he really considered family now were Iruka-sensei and Ero-sennin.

He decided to just go along with what he hoped parents were like. "Well parents..they love their kids, like a lot. They will support your decisions through life and they're your first real friend. If you do something bad, they will scold you, but they do it because they care for you. They'll embrace you when times are tough and encourage you when you're working towards a goal. To be truthful, I don't have parents either but if I did have them then I'd hope that's what they were like." Naruto choked those words out, tears threatening to spill out.

'_**If only you knew boy…'**_ The Kyuubi thought to himself.

The other boy looked at Naruto strangely. "Parents don't sound that great," he said, catching Naruto's attention. "I mean if they make you cry well then they don't sound that good at all."

Naruto smiled at what the boy said. "No, parents can be wonderful things.." he trailed off. "Well anyway let's try something else. What's your name?" he asked.

"Name, what's that?"

'_Oh boy, this could take a while' _thought Naruto.

"Well a name is…" he started telling the boy about it.

* * *

-Hokage's Office-

Tsunade was smiling; she had just sent Jiraya off to go and investigate the origin of the explosion they heard earlier. '_I'm glad that pervert is gone, I caught him stealing looks at my chest so many times.' _She rubbed her temple as she had to now address the new problem at hand: A nosy little kunoichi. She smiled as she thought of a plan to scare the girl out of hiding.

"Phew that was close" Sakura thought as she came out of hiding. She didn't realize Jiraya was about to leave Tsunade's office until the handle started turning. Not wanting to get caught for eavesdropping she quickly jumped out of the window, hanging onto the windowsill she waited until Jiraya was gone to come back in.

"I wonder who they were talking about…" closing her eyes, she searched through her mind for anything about any dangerous groups. She had spent a lot of time in Konoha's library recently, most of the time she was there trying to read up on the land around Konoha. She thought that it might give her an understanding of the land, and if she had that she would be able to narrow down the potential places that Naruto could be in. To her frustration Tsunade wouldn't allow her go out and look for Naruto by herself, she stated it would be too dangerous for Sakura, especially if he was in the Kumogakure or Kirigakure. Tsunade hadn't told Sakura this but these villages were hotspots for Akatsuki movement.

Sakura bit her lip, frustration easily visible across her face. She was unable to find anything about any groups that were a threat. She frowned as she realized something. '_If this group is after Naruto then it's especially important for me to go and find him quickly. I don't care how long it will take me to find him; I don't want to lose another person who is precious to me.'_

With determination ever-present she decided she would go and ask Tsunade one last time to let her go and look for Naruto. '_No isn't an option anymore, even if she says it, I need to get him back._' She gripped the door handle to the Hokage's office and quickly thought over how she would ask. _'I'll beg if I have to.' _Lost in thought she didn't notice the Hokage's chakra presence move towards the other side of the door she was standing in front of.

'_Hehe, this is going to be great.' _thought the Hokage, _'I can't wait to see the look on her face when I kick this door right off its hinges.' _She prepared one of her ever deadly kicks and started kicking her leg towards the door. Meanwhile on the other side of the door Sakura started turning the door handle, _'Hm, that's strange, the Hokage's chakra just spiked up for some reason,' _her face grimaced as she thought of something else _'What if she's in trouble, I need to go and he-'_ the word was caught in her throat as the door she had just been gripping shattered in front of her.

'_Haha' _thought Tsunade, she was sure she had probably scared Sakura half to death. As the dust started clearing up she nearly doubled over in laughter. Standing where the door should have been was one very shocked looking kunoichi, the funniest thing to Tsunade though was that she was still gripping the door handle, as if the door was still there."Haha, while I don't think Shizune appreciate the fact that she has to order a new door to be made, I don't really care" Tsunade stated boisterously.

Sakura was still at a loss for words as to what happened, _'Did that just…?'_ she asked herself. Unable to think of an explanation about why that happened she snapped herself out of the daze she was in when she remembered why she was there, '_Naruto.'_

"Hokage-sama, I need to talk to you about something, it's _important._" She stressed that last part.

"Why yes Sakura-chan come in." Tsunade motioned for the kunoichi to come into her office, albeit a grin still across her face.

"Arigato" Sakura said as she made her way into the office. Not wanting to waste any time she turned to Tsunade and revealed what was so important.

"I'm going to go and look for Naruto."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed and I hope I cleared up some of the confusion that is there, if there's anything else please let me know so I can hopefully clear it up. Have a great day c:**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**XxAshishxX: Thank you, but leave some more feedback please, lol**

**Mangaka Shuzen: Well he did bring Sasuke back that was all him, but as for Orochimaru, Naruto was kinda just on the team that brought him back, he did have a part in helping bring him back (Which I will give more detail on later in the story) but then again *whispers* maybe he wanted to be brought back.**

"I'm going to go look for Naruto."

It became eerily quiet after she said those words. The smile that had been on the Hokage's face was gone, replaced by a serious, more menacing look.

"Sakura.."

"Hokage-sama…Tsunade please, you don't unde-"

Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, signaling for the other kunoichi to quiet down.

The office stayed quiet for a few moments before Sakura spoke up.

"Tsunade-sama.." she said quietly, hoping to garner some sort of response, but none came. As she was about to say something she heard a muffled sound. She looked up and her mouth opened in shock. There was Tsunade, the leader of their village, one of the strongest ninja's she had ever seen, crying.

She was unsure of why Tsunade was crying. But then she realized it must have been the fact that she said his name.

'_Naruto..'_

She knew that Naruto's disappearance caused just as much, if not more pain to Tsunade then it did to her. Naruto had been the one who led her off of the path of self-destruction, hell he was the sole reason she was the Hokage, Sakura couldn't even fathom the amount of pain Tsunade had gone through these past three months.

Ever since Naruto had gone missing Sakura had spent most of her free time in the Hokage Tower. She would be like a shadow when she was there, never seen but always listening to the varying conversations that were going on between the many ninja that littered the multiple hallways of the multiple floors of the Hokage Tower. Sometimes she would hear Naruto's name been spoken of and she would get really excited but as she would continue listening the excitement that she was feeling would be replaced by disappointment as the conversations would all end in "We weren't able to find/track/figure out where he is."

"Tsunade-sama.." she reached out to the grieving Hokage and put her hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly.

"I'm sorry for bringing him up, it was foolish of me" She looked down at the floor, giving a moment for the words to sink in.

"I'm sorry, I should just go, I'll come back later to check up on you see if you're doing better."

She took her hand off of the Hokage's shoulder and made her way out of the office, she didn't look back at all, she was afraid she might break down as well if she sees Tsunade's red face, laden with tears. As she made her way to the door, or what was the door she realized just how much destruction that single kick caused. She quietly thanked the Hokage.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama, for not killing me with that kick."

As she finally left the Hokage's office she heard something. Thinking it might have been the Hokage she stopped walking and turned around, waiting and listening intently. She was about to disregard it as just her mind making up the sound when she heard it, much clearer this time around.

"Sakura, please, come back in, I've regained my composure."

Making her way back into the office she noticed that the tears were gone from Tsunade's face, and while her cheeks still held a tint of red, she was no longer grieving.

"Sit please Sakura; there are some things I'd like to address." The Hokage motioned to the chair on the other side of the desk which the kunoichi took.

For about a minute there were no words uttered as the Hokage just stared into Sakura, as if trying to pick her apart and find every secret she held. This made the other girl very uncomfortable, as evident when she started squirming in her chair.

Tsunade then closed her eyes, as if in deep thought before slowly reaching underneath her desk and pulling out something very familiar to Sakura.

"Hokage-sama are you sure it's wise t-"

She was cut off as the Hokage cleared her throat.

"Unless you'd like to see my cry again, I'd suggest you let me do this. Drinking always helps calm my nerves, no matter what part of the day I do it at."

"O-okay…" responded the kunoichi nervously.

She watched the Hokage take the cork out of the bottle of sake and slowly pour the drink into her glass, drops of sake were littered around the glass when she was finished pouring, and Sakura made a mental note of what she just witnessed.

'_Her hand were shaking like crazy, I guess she still hasn't stopped grieving completely.'_

She was brought out of the thought when the Hokage cleared her throat, capturing Sakura's attention as she thought Tsunade was about to say something but instead of saying something Tsunade proceeded to raise the bottle of sake to her mouth and start drinking from it. Sakura watched confused as to how to feel about what was happening. She was slightly taken aback at how much disregard Tsunade seemed to hold for herself right now. On the other hand she was quite impressed by the fact that she could down so much liquor.

'_She's probably done it in the past.'_

"Uhm, Hokage-sama, about Naruto.."

At the mention of his name Tsunade stopped drinking from the bottle and slammed it onto the desk, she grinned at Sakura, letting her know that she finished the bottle before wiping the last remaining sake off her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket.

"Sakura how many times do we, *hic* whoops seems I drank that bottle a little too fast, hehe. Anyway we've been over this many times *hic* be-before and I really cannot let you go and look for him, besides I have my own teams looking for him."

Sakura had heard through rumors about these…"teams" that Tsunade was sending out. They usually were very elite teams that had been assigned to find Naruto, consisting of the best trackers from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. She had also heard some rather troubling news concerning these teams that the Hokage was sending out. These teams were almost always out looking for Naruto and every time they returned they were sent right back out and while Sakura was very grateful for what Tsunade was doing to try and locate Naruto she was also aware of the fact that since these teams were always out, it significantly weakened Konoha's force.

"Tsunade-sama, I know…I know what you're doing."

She had to make Tsunade realize that she can't keep doing what's she's been doing with the tracking teams.

"Please…if you keep sending out those teams you'll only be hurting Konoha and Naruto wouldn't wan-"

***WHAM…..crack***

The desk that had been separating Sakura and Tsunade had finally broken as Tsunade had slammed her fist down one last time onto it.

"Dammit Sakura, don't you think I know that, don't you think I know what kind of damage these little teams are doing to our reputation. If word gets out that we couldn't even recover one villager, much less HIM."

Sakura just stood there, mostly in shock at what Tsunade had said to her but there were also some lingering feelings of anger there as well. She decided now would be the best time to make her case.

"If you know this…If you care about this village that you were sworn to protect then you should stop sending those teams out and let me go after him, it's only right if I do..he's already done so much for me." That last part was barely audible, but it was all Tsunade needed to hear.

"Now don't you see why I've been sending those teams out? He's already done so much for me..."

She lowered her head before she spoke once more.

"He saved me Sakura, if he and Jiraya hadn't shown up I don't know where I would be, I could still be the gambling drunkard who didn't give a damn about her own life, or worse, I could be dead. But then they came, no he came and made me realize what I was doing was wrong, that I couldn't keep on living the life I was living. I'm in this village for him Sakura, don't you see? That's why I can't stop what I'm doing, he saved me and I can't even save him."

Tsunade turned around and walked to the window that was in her office, she stood there admiring the village she had come to love before she spoke again. After a while she turned around and spoke.

"Alright I'll let you go."

Sakura thought she was hearing things.

"W-what was that Tsunade-sama?"

"I said…you can go, but not by yourself! If you are fully prepared and you have your mind set on doing this then you'll need a team. I recommend Kiba and Shino because of their tracking capabilities and Shikamaru because of his natural ability to le-"

She was cut off as she was engulfed in a hug by the pink kunoichi.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Tsunade-sama, I won't let you down, I'll bring Naruto back.

Tsunade didn't know what to do; she was unfamiliar with this kind of affection so she decided to pat the girl's head.

"You better, or else you might as well not come back to Konoha..because I'll just send you right back out there."

"Hai!"

**A/N: Another chapter done, whew. This chapter felt a little different to me, I think I changed a few things up with how I wrote it and after looking over it I can say that I'm satisfied with the way this chapter has turned out. I hope you guys enjoy it, thank you to everyone who's read my story so far and even more thanks to those who have reviewed it means a lot, have a great day c: **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**XxAshishxX: I'm glad you're excited but I do have some bad news, I start school at the end of the week so I don't(at the moment) have any plans to update quicker, I like the pace at which I'm uploading it gives me time to really make sure I have a good chapter to put out there. I hope you understand c:**

"We'll make our decision later, as for now, clear up the table and head up to your room please; your mother and I have some things to discuss."

That was the last thing Kizashi said to his daughter, he didn't feel comfortable letting her go on such a dangerous mission and the fact that the Hokage would allow her to do such a reckless thing had him up in arms.

After Sakura had finished clearing off the table and had put the dishes in the sink she had made her way upstairs, albeit a bit slowly to show her sadness at her father's responses to her mission.

'_Please okaa-san, make him see reason.'_

Once Kizashi had heard the door to Sakura's room close he looked at his wife. Unlike him, she had foolishly sided with their daughter and for what reason? Did she not understand the danger that went along with such a mission, much less one that had to do with _him. _

He cleared his throat before speaking, capturing his wife's attention.

"Why is she so dead set on doing this mission? Doesn't she know that Hokage-sama is already having teams go out and look for the boy? All she's doing is putting herself in unnecessary danger."

As he finished he had hoped to have gained his wife's understanding in his disapproval of her mission but to his surprise he found her shaking her head at what he said. Before he could on another rant, Mebuki spoke up.

"Dear…" she said it so soothingly it almost took his mind off of what they were arguing about.

"Yes?"

"Why are you so determined on not letting her go? I know she's our daughter and I too fear for her safety but you saw it yourself, the determination on her face when she told us she was going. Even if we say she can't go is that really going to stop her? She could easily sneak out during the night. The least we can do is support her."

"If she tries sneaking out then I'll just nail up her windows, I'll sleep on the couch next to the door. I won't let her go on the mission. I can't, especially not for someone as dangerous as him. What if something goes wrong and it comes out? She could get seriously injured, or worse…"

Mebuki just looked at him as she finally understood his reasoning behind not letting her go. Meanwhile a certain pink-haired kunoichi was listening in on the conversation from the stairs.

'_It? What is it? Could it have something to do with that group Hokage-sama and Jiraya-sama were talking about earlier.'_

She didn't have any more time to think about it as she heard her mother speak again.

"If _it_ comes out then we just to trust in her and her teammates to get out of there safely dear."

'_Thank you mom'_

Mebuki then moved over to where her husband is and puts a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her, about to speak before she cuts him off.

"We can't keep babying her dear…you and I both know this."

"I-I know." Kizashi sighed as he realized this

"It's just so difficult letting her go, she's my pride and joy. I'll just have to come to terms with the fact that she isn't our little girl anymore. She's grown up, and I can't keep sheltering her, I just have to be there for her and support her decisions."

"I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to know that you support her, why don't you go up and rest, you've had a long day and then later you can tell her you're decision."

"Good idea dear"

With that, he stood up and kissed his wife before making way upstairs. As he made his way to his room he was about to enter before he was caught from behind in a hug.

"I'll always be your little girl otou-san, I just need to do this, if I don't I could lose a friend and I don't want to lose him."

Kizashi stood there before turning and softly patted his daughter's head.

"Just promise me you'll be careful and you'll come back safe and sound alright?"

"I promise"

* * *

-Meanwhile-

He scratched his head, never before had he spoken to someone so…disconnected from the world, as if his entire life he spent living in this place he called "home."

After explaining to the boy the meaning behind names he had expected for him to leave the cave, but as he was getting up, the boy asked him another question and soon after that, another one. Naruto, while appreciative of the fact that this boy saw him as something more than a rambling idiot was getting exhausted.

'_Is this how smart people feel? Gahh how annoying it must be.'_

As Naruto was finally given a break from answering all the question he decided to ask one himself.

"Hey, when was the last time you saw your masters?"

"Oh I saw Lord Kabuto just a few days ago, he came in with a big grin and he was followed by two other people I hadn't seen around my masters."

"At first I was worried Lord Kabuto was in trouble but he knelt down beside me and assured me that these were his "friends" and that they were there to help him. Soon after he said that I feel asleep and when I awoke Lord Kabuto was there but his two friends were gone. He told me he was leaving again so I asked if I could come with. He said no quickly but then he must've seen something on my face because he soon after said that he would send one of his friends to come and pick me up."

"Ah.."

"That's who I thought you were, but now I realize you don't resemble them. I couldn't see their faces but both of them were rather large, and you..while I don't mean to be rude, aren't that big."

Naruto nearly choked before responding.

"Well I mean, muscles aren't anything special, I bet I could outrun all three of your masters, excluding Master Orochimaru. Speaking of which you didn't say when you last saw him."

The boy looked down sadly before speaking up again.

"I saw him..maybe a little bit over a month ago. The last thing he said to me was how he was going to make me "perfect."

Naruto noticed a smile slowly make its way across the boy's face before it returned back to the sullen look he had before.

"I was so excited to be "perfect" but it's been awhile since I've seen him, I'm starting to think something bad happened to him."

"When Kabuto was here did you ask him about Orochimaru?"

The boy shook his head in response.

"No..I-I wanted to but I couldn't, he was there and then he was gone. I was too preoccupied trying to sort out this new thing that I found on my neck. I think either Lord Kabuto or one of his friends put it there when I was asleep."

Naruto nearly felt the blood in his veins run cold as he speculated what was on the boy's neck.

"Can I see this "thing" that's on your neck please? I might be able to help figure out what it is."

The boy nodded before lowering the collar of his shirt.

Naruto shut his eyes in pain as his fears were confirmed. Lying on the boy's neck was the one thing that had changed his teammate so much, a curse mark.

"Well Naruto? Can you help me?"

Naruto shifted around uncomfortably as he let go of the boy's collar.

"I can only tell you as much as I know, which isn't much, that thing is called a curse mark."

The boy looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, he was about to speak but stopped when Naruto beat him to it.

"What it does….well it changes you, not just you're appearance but how you think, it makes you stronger, a lot stronger but at a cost."

"What's the cost?"

"It makes you want more and more power, my friend his name is Sasuke and he got one put on him by Orochimaru, at first I didn't think it did anything other than make him even more pissed off than he already was but I realized that he was getting dangerous, more power-hungry so my sensei restricted it. In the end it didn't matter, he left my village and went to your master to get more powerful, I was able to stop him but the damage was already done."

"Ah I think I understand, thank you Naruto."

"No problem, I'm just sorry I don't know anything more about the mark."

"It's fine; when Master Orochimaru comes back maybe he can explain it to us."

Naruto looked down as he thought of what would happen if he saw Orochimaru in his current state.

'_I'd be easily beaten but then what? Would he turn me into something like Sasuke?'_

He shivered at the thought of him turning all grey and nasty looking like Sasuke did whenever he activated the curse mark.

'_**You don't have to worry about that boy, it isn't possible for us to be restricted by something as puny as a curse mark, it'd just disappear as soon as it is put on you.'**_

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he was told that.

'_That's good to know, thank you fox.'_

'_**Don't mention it, seriously.'**_

As Naruto was about to respond the other boy spoke up.

"Oh yeah Naruto I just remembered something."

"What is it?"

"You said something about a Sasuke right? Well I saw a Sasuke recently, he was with Kabuto. He looked angry."

Naruto's blood ran cold as he heard that his friend had been here.

'_Sasuke what are you doing here? More importantly why are you with Kabuto?'_

"When did this happen? When did you see him?"

Naruto shouted at the boy, causing him to move away from him.

"I-it was about a w-w-week ago; please stop yelling at me Naruto."

The last half of what the boy had said went straight over Naruto as he processed what was being said. Then a new thought popped into his head.

"When did you first see Sasuke?"

"U-uhm…maybe three months ago I'm not sure really…"

* * *

**A/N: Haha, well there's Chapter 7, hoped you guys enjoyed and I hope that that little surprise at the end was unexpected as hell because that's what I was aiming for. Also I couldn't find anything on it but can tailed beast users be affected by a curse mark, if they can I'll change my information so it makes, either way I hope you guys had a great day and I'll see you all next week, goodnight c:**

**PS: I know I don't have many reviewers but I only got one on my last chapter, please review it helps me a ton and I really do appreciate everyone I get, adios.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Tony Blu: I shall manage my time wisely, hopefully. Thank you for the compliment as well, I'm glad you enjoy it. People shouldn't be so stingy on reviews, seems so different from how it used to be xD.**

**Mangaka Shuzen: Thank you, I'm trying to improve and I'm glad you think so. Also in regards to the "Three months" part, Naruto doesn't realize he's been gone for that long. He probably still only thinks he's been gone for only a little bit. Sasuke has been in the village for about almost two months before Naruto went missing. Urgh I feel like I'm just confusing you, if you need clarifications please let me know, I know what I'm trying to say in my mind, I'm just having a hard time explaining it.**

"I'm so sorry Naruto"

"Wha-"

As he fell to the ground he wondered what happened.

'_He said sorry, then-then he struck me? Why, why Yori?'_

'_It's all because of him..'_

Naruto watched as Yori quickly followed his master.

'_Damn you….you took another one of my friends'_

He tried to get up, to chase after him, to do anything to stop him from going but he couldn't. He tried moving but his legs wouldn't respond to the commands he was sending.

'_What did he do to me? He only hit me once yet the way my body feels it's like he struck it over and over again. I can't even move my hand that much anymore.'_

Naruto rolled over onto his back, trying to start some sort of movement in his body but it didn't work.

'_I failed, I failed, I failed, I can't save anyone.'_

He shut his eyes to try and stop the tears from rolling down his face but it was too late.

'_Baa-chan, Ero-sennin….Sakura-chan, anyone please help me, please.'_

"NARUTO" screamed the familiar voice.

'_Who?'_ Was all he was able to say as his eyes finally closed, but not before they caught a quick glimpse of pink.

* * *

-The Day Before-

Sakura was waiting at the gates near the entrance of the village. She was the first one there and she was glad too. It gave her time to finish her preparations for the mission.

'_Don't worry Naruto, I'm coming to find you this time, and I won't stop until I bring that goofy smile back to Konoha.'_

She was confident in her team's abilities; Kiba and Shino were already becoming great trackers so if she just gave it to them then they'd immediately have his scent while Shikamaru on the other hand was already a chunin. A damn good one at that, there were already talks on him becoming a jonin, he was a great leader and an even better strategist.

'_We won't fail in bringing you home Naruto, we can't.'_

"Hey Sakura!"

"Ohayo Kiba, Shino"

"Sorry for taking so long, we were training with Hinata, to ya know….keep her mind off him and before you know it, we had lost track of time."

'_That's right..I haven't even seen Hinata since Naruto's disappearance, she must be taking it especially hard.'_

"Oh it's fine, I just got here myself, er how's Hinata holding up?"

This time Shino spoke up.

"Not well at all."

Sakura expected him to say more but he just stopped. Noticing her confusion Kiba quickly spoke up.

"Sorry Sakura, it's just.."

(He leans in so only Sakura and Shino can her him.)

"Apparently Hinata tried leaving the village a few times to go after him, no one noticed her leaving during the night because she would usually be back in the village before anyone could notice she was gone."

As she heard that she remembered seeing a silhouette of someone one night when she was laying outside on her roof, gazing across Konoha, hoping to hear Naruto's loud voice call out her name.

"I remember seeing someone one night, I thought it was just one of the members of Tsunade's Scout and Retrieval teams but now that I think back to it, the silhouette was rather tiny."

"Yea that was probably her Sakura, she's apparently been doing it once ever week since his disappearance."

"How do you guys know all this, did she tell you when you were training."

Kiba leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and laughing nervously.

"Haha…er, kinda."

"Let me explain Kiba."

Kiba just nodded and started listening as Shino recounted the encounter.

* * *

-Hyuga Compound, earlier in the day-

Shino and Kiba had run across the town, making their way to the main Hyuga compound quickly.

Today was the day that they went on the Naruto retrieval mission with Shikamaru and Sakura, but before that happened, they had training with Hinata.

"Damn it Shino, the last time we were late Hinata guilted us into spending the entire day with her."

Shino cringed as he remembered that day.

"Let's not bring that up Kiba, please."

Kiba just howled in laughter at his teammate's reaction as they finally entered the compound.

"Hm you hear that Shino? Sounds like some sparring is going on."

"Yes it does but by whom? Has Hinata found a new sparring partner?"

"Only one way to find out, let's go check it out bug breath."

"Right behind you mutt."

As they rounded the corner to the training they were surprised to see Hinata and Hanabi fighting. At least that's what they believed it was. Hinata was standing over Hanabi who was looking up at her, her hands raised in defense, and Shino noticed something else from the girl, fear. As Hinata was about to strike she was stopped by a wall of bugs.

"What are you doing Shino?"

"Stopping you from seriously injuring her, what were you thinking Hinata?"

"I was thinking that I was finally going to win a duel against Hanabi-san but now since you've interfered it doesn't count." Frustration was noticeable when she spoke.

This time Kiba spoke up.

"You don't need to incapacitate someone to win a duel Hinata, nonetheless your sister."

"Kiba you don't understand, I have to do this, I have to beat her, I have to get stronger…how else am I supposed to save Naruto." As she finished talking Kiba noticed the tears that started falling from her face and immediately felt a pang of guilt for what he said.

"Hinata…I'm sorry for what I said."

"It's fine K-Kiba, I understand your concern but me and Hanabi were perfectly aware of the risks of having a duel."

Hanabi spoke up this time.

"Tsk, of course your friends had to come and stop the fight, you couldn't even finish the fight sister, even if your friends hadn't shown up you wouldn't have been able to do it."

Kiba was about to yell at Hanabi before being cut off by her.

"Don't think father and mother haven't noticed you leaving at night, you may have gotten away with it at the start but once you did it more and more you became less discreet, we could tell you had done it for a while."

These words confused Kiba until he realized where Hinata was going, _'Hinata has been leaving? But to whe-oh….'_

As he realized that Hinata had been going to find Naruto at night he was a little ticked off that she hadn't come to him to ask for help in the matter.

'_She might have the Byakugan but me and Akamaru are second to no one when it comes to tracking people.'_

He was brought out of the thought as Hinata was launched at him.

'_Oh sh-'_was all he could think of saying before Hinata landed on him, promptly knocking him out.

He awoke later to find Hinata gone and Shino standing above him.

"What happened Shino?

"Well while you were busy fantasizing about Hinata, Hanabi rushed over to her and kicked her straight into you, knocking you out."

"That bit-"

"Oh Kiba you're awake" Hinata said as she came out of her house, medical supplies in her hand.

"I'm sorry that I knocked you out, I went to go get supplies to hopefully help you but now that I see you're awake I realize that I was too slow."

"No no Hinata, thank you, it's the thought that counts."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah" he flashed a grin at her as Akamaru barked in agreeance

"Kiba…"

"Yes Shino?"

"We have to go, Shikamaru and Sakura are probably already waiting for us at the gate."

"Oh crap I almost forgot about that." He stood up and dusted himself up before speaking.

"Don't worry Hinata, I'll bring back Naruto, it's a promise."

Hinata just stood there, a tint of red across her face as Kiba and Shino made their way out of the compound.

'_Don't worry Hinata, I'll bring back Naruto, it's a promise.'_

She smiled as she realized it.

"Thank you Kiba, I know you will."

-Flashback End-

* * *

Sakura just nodded as Shino finished telling what happened.

"That Hanabi girl is such a brat Shino."

"I agree Kiba, but it's funny seeing your face go red every time I bring up Hinata.

"Sh-shut up bug breath."

A new voice spoke up this time, startling the three.

"That Hanabi girl sure does sound troublesome."

"AHHHH fucking shit Shikamaru don't sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry Kiba, but to be honest I've been waiting here for awhile."

"Why didn't you say anything then you weirdo?"

"Because I didn't want to interrupt story time, especially when it has to do with that girl you like so much."

"Shut up! Ugh it doesn't even matter….she loves Naruto too much for me to even have a chance."

This came as a surprise to Sakura who, prior to Shino's story hadn't really thought much of Hinata, sure she was Hyuga but she was always quiet, especially around Naruto.

'_Ah that makes sense.'_

She saw Kiba's frustrated and sad look so she decided she'd help him.

"Kiba just because she likes someone else doesn't mean you should be mute about your feelings towards her; Naruto knew I liked Sasuke but that didn't stop him from speaking up about his feelings. Think how grateful she'll be towards you if you bring Naruto back."

Kiba just grumbled in response.

"Alright, well as much as I enjoy talking about Kiba's troublesome love problems, we have a mission, so let's head out now, when it turns to night we'll stop wherever we are and set up camp."

"Hai" was the response from the three ninja.

'_Don't worry Naruto, once we find you you'll see how much training I've done, I won't let you down anymore.'_

'_Hinata, I'll bring Naruto back, I promised.'_

'_My bugs are especially active, they must be excited for this mission, I can't say I'm not.'_

'_I wonder what Temari is up to, urgh why am I thinking of her…troublesome woman.'_

**A/N: I felt kinda happy with this chapter, it was mostly a set up chapter for what's about to happen. If you couldn't tell, yes there will be other pairings but none will be as big as the main pairing. Hinata will also play a rather large role but don't worry, Naruto is all Sakura's but that doesn't mean Hinata is going to take that well. That's all I can tell you, have a great day c:**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**XxAshishxX : Oh dear lord xD I don't know about doing that, but I can tell you she is going to have a rather large part later in the story. Hope you enjoy today's chapter.**

Sakura was starting to get tired, and bored. She didn't know how long she'd been making her way from tree to tree but the way things were going right now, she hoped that they would stop soon.

"Hey gu-" She was cut off as Shikimaru stole the words right out of her mouth.

"Alright team, let's stop her for the night, it's becoming dark."

This time it was Kiba's turn to speak up.

"C'monnnn Shikimaru we don't need to stop, my nose still has his scent in it, I can find him in no time if you give me just a little longer."

Sakura, while grateful that they had stopped, also agreed with Kiba, the quicker they can find Naruto, the less risk for him to get hurt.

"Shut up will ya Kiba? You might as well alert every ninja within a mile radius of our location that we're over here."

Kiba just looked down before shaking his head. "Sorry."

Shikamaru just looked at the boy and sighed, he didn't mean to snap on the Inuzuka like that and he could tell it hurt him. Sighing he looked around before saying his next few words.

"It's…alright; I guess I'm just a little on edge at the moment, seeing tree after tree with no apparent progress was starting to get annoying."

Seeing that Kiba hadn't responded, he continued.

"I didn't mean to snap at you Kiba, I mean it, it's just….there's a lot riding on this mission. I don't even want to go back to the village if we can't find Naruto."

Sakura just chuckled lightly to herself as he said that.

'_Tsunade wouldn't let you back even if you wanted to.'_

"I'm saying the truth when I tell you this Kiba; you're a tracker, a damn fine one at that." The Inuzuka looked up as he said that.

"Right now what we all need is some rest, how are we going to show Naruto that we've become stronger if we're half asleep?" Kiba just nodded solemnly in agreement.

Shikamaru just sighed again as he realized what he'd have to do. Sure he was their "leader" for this mission, but that didn't mean he was going to act all bossy and mean now.

'_How troublesome'_

He cleared his throat rather loudly, hoping to garner the boy's attention, which he did.

"Kiba, I'll make you a deal okay?"

"What is it?"

"If you rest for a while, and you don't go around making a lot of noise, I'll let you go scouting for a bit, but if you, by some chance stumble across Naruto, you are in no way allowed to get him on your own, we don't know what's happened to him. I don't care what you have to do, make your ass back to us and we'll all go and get him. If you don't see him, make your way back to us anyway, we'll continue once we're all together understood?"

Kiba had a smile across his face as Shikimaru finished talking.

'_I'll just stay and rest for about an hour or so before heading out, don't worry Hinata; I'll bring him back to you.'_

* * *

**-Meanwhile-**

Naruto awoke to a pair of maroon eyes staring at him.

"AGH!"

To say that it properly freaked him out was an understatement.

"Hi Naruto-san!"

As Naruto came out of the feeling of grogginess from waking up he realized that it was just the boy who he had found.

"Hi…"

He stopped as he realized he didn't know what to call the boy.

"Hey…I have a question?"

"Yes?" The boy looked at Naruto with curiosity as he wondered what his question was.

'_I hope he isn't going to ask if it's okay to leave, as much as adore Master Orochimaru and Lord Kabuto I don't mind Naruto's company, in fact if he left I'd be all alone again. I don't want that to happen.'_

Naruto cleared his throat before speaking.

"How would you like a um..a name?

…

There was silence as Naruto just stared at the boy who hadn't spoken for a good two minutes.

"You know, neverm-"

"Yes" It came out as quiet as a mouse but for Naruto he had heard like it was shouted at him.

Naruto just grinned goofily as he reached his hand over to where the boy was before patting him on the back. The boy looked up as soon as Naruto's hand had landed on his back.

'_What is he doing?'_ The boy thought as he looked at the strange blond-haired ninja. He had never experienced something like this before, at least not in a pleasant manner but when his eyes connected with Naruto's he visibly relaxed, there was no evil intent in what Naruto was doing, he was just doing it to ease the boy who must've looked like a nervous wreck to Naruto.

'_He's going to strike out at me…I know it, I just know it. It's what Orochimaru did whenever I was unresponsive or too scared to speak.'_

He clenched his eyes shut, his body starting to shake slightly again as he waited for the strike to happen.

* * *

**-Forests-**

Kiba got up, it was pitch black but that wasn't a problem to someone like him.

"Naruto I swear to god, I'm going to kick your ass when I find you, I could be back at the village, hanging with Hina- I mean training with my team, but no, I have to bring your dumb ass back to the village because-"

"Get to the back of the line Kiba, if anyone's going to be kicking his ass it's mine."

Kiba was startled to think that someone else was up and at first he thought it was an enemy but he soon dismissed that thought as his eyes made out the other figure, Sakura.

"Why do you want to kick his ass? You're the main reason we're where we are now." He asked in a growl.

"Just because I want to get him back the most doesn't mean I don't want to kick his ass."

Kiba just smiled at that before barely catching what she said next.

"It's the least he deserves for leaving m- I mean K-Konoha."

She didn't understand why she nearly said what she said, it didn't matter what she wanted. What mattered was the fact that someone who had become a close friend of hers had disappeared and she was close to losing a second person she cares about.

Kiba, while still a bit groggy, did hear what she said, or almost said and so he whistled out, gaining her attention before shooting a knowing smile that sent the message.

'_I caught that'_

Sakura just caught her breath as she realized he heard what she said. Suffice to say, the Inuzuka had just witnessed the color of her face, match her hair.

"Don't worry Sakura, he'll be alright."

"I want to believe that, I really do but when was the last time Naruto wasn't able to get out of a bad situation, adding onto the fact that he's been gone for three months doesn't make me feel like he's completely fine."

"Pft, Sakura if he can beat me, he can beat anyone, so don't worry or else you might turn into Hinata…silly Hinata."

"Kiba-"

"Please Sakura I don't need pity."

Those words stung Sakura and she felt her face getting a shade of red as she gradually let those words sink in.

_'Asshole, all I'm trying to do is to be nice.'_

"I've come to realize quite a long time ago that I'll never be as good in her eyes as Naruto, all I can do is hope now."

Sakura felt her internal temperature lower after hearing that, she truly felt for the boy. Always trying to gain the attention of the one you have feelings for but not being able to get them to notice because of their feelings toward someone else. It truly must be painful.

"Hey Kiba-" she cut herself of as she realized the boy that had been standing across from her was no longer gone. She tried looking around but she realized that he must've just gone and looked for Naruto like he said he was going to do earlier.

Sakura just sighed sadly as she made her way back to their campsite before lying down and trying to escape back into her world of peacefulness.

'_Oh Naruto, where are you…'_

* * *

**-Caves-**

Naruto just studied the boy carefully, wondering what caused him to start shaking again.

'_It's those bastards's fault; first you take Sasuke and now this kid?'_

"Pl-please Naruto, if you're angry with me, I'm sorry but please don't strike me, I don't like it."

When he said that Naruto realized that the boy was unfamiliar with what he was trying to do. He quickly took his hand off the boy's shoulder and shook his hands apologetically to show he meant no harm in what he was doing.

"No no, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that what I was doing was wrong."

"It's not wrong Naruto-san…I just don't have great experiences with being..comforted."

Naruto quickly caught on to what he was referring to and bit his cheek in response to his carelessness.

"Er well-Hey! I thought of a name for you."

This piqued the boy's interest.

"How does the name Yori sound?"

After hearing the name he just stood there, not knowing what to say but then a thought popped right into his head.

"Isn't that a girl's name Naruto."

"No no no no it's a boy name! I promise."

"…"

"It means trust, and since your name is now Yori that means that I'm putting my trust in you, don't go throwing it away now."

The boy just nodded absent mindedly as he quickly understood what was just given to him.

"Alright now let's-oof" Naruto was quickly enveloped in a hug by the boy.

"Thank you Naruto-san." It came out as a whisper but it was all Naruto needed to hear.

"Don't worry Yori, and you can drop the honorific, it makes me feel important but I haven't done anything to deserve that."

The boy just nodded as he removed himself from Naruto.

"Alright now let's get the hell out of here!"

"Yea…"

**A/N: Alright so that's just about it for the set up, from here on out things are just going to keep on getting better and better, this chapter in and of itself was nothing to special but it sets up the next chapter, which is going to have the return of some familiar faces and the meeting that you have been waiting for. Have a great day c:**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Mangaka Shuzen: I'm going to respond to both of your reviews in this chapter. Well Hinata might seem a little different right now but that's only because Naruto's missing! She's still the same, just trying to get stronger for Naruto, and yes I liked that Kiba part also, it was a cool idea I hope. As for finding Naruto…I'll just let the chapter speak for itself.**

**XxAshishxX: Maybe, maybeee I'll do a yandere Hinata, I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime.**

He was getting ticked off, something that didn't happen to him much. Every time he thought he made progress, he ended up right back at the entrance to the cave.

"How long have we been walking Yori? It feels like all we've been doing is walking in around in a circle."

Yori looked around, scanning their surroundings. When he didn't answer back Naruto looked behind him to see what he was doing.

"What's the matter Yori? Is there something out there?"

The boy just shook his head before speaking.

"I thought I saw something…" He shook his head as if trying to get something out of his mind. "But I think it was just my mind playing tricks on me."

"Oh alright, but do you know where we are?"

"Er, from what I can tell we're near the border of Otogakure."

That surprised Naruto _'Why the hell am I by the Sound Village?'_

'_**Don't you remember kid?' **_the return of the fox spooked Naruto.

'_Shit, don't just come out of nowhere damn fox, where the hell have you been anyway?'_

'_**I've been resting, trying to regain my energy; I was severely weakened when it happened.'**_

This piqued Naruto's interest, what could've caused this demon inside of him to lose so much energy that it caused it to have to rest.

'_What are you talking about fox?'_

The Kyuubi just snarled in response to the boy's incompetence.

'_**The mission.'**_

'_What? What mission are you talking about?'_

'_**Do you not remember? It was a disaster right from the start, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen but I didn't know when it would.'**_

'_What the hell are you talking about you big ball of fur?'_

'_**GRAHH! I am the Kyuubi! Not a "big ball of fur" you insolent little kit.'**_

This caused Naruto to smirk; it was fun being able to talk to the fox again.

'_**You think this is FUNNY? You know what would be really funny? If I decided to take away the chakra that's been healing you again.'**_

Naruto nearly doubled over as he remembered the intense pain that had stricken him when the Kyuubi had taken away his healing in the cave.

The Kyuubi chuckled as he witnessed the boy nearly turn ghost white at the mention of that incident.

'_**Fufufu, now that you remember what I can do I recommend you listen to what I'm about to tell.'**_

Naruto didn't smirk that time, he just kept on walking.

'_**This mission we went on was a very dangerous one. Not what we were doing, but who we were assigned with on it.'**_

'_Who was it?'_

'_**It was you, Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Kakashi.'**_

When he heard Orochimaru's name he nearly froze on the spot.

"Why'd you stop Naruto? Is there something up there?"

Naruto just turned his head around and flashed one of his grins before giving a thumbs up.

"No I just thought I remembered something but it went away, sorry for that, let's keep on going."

He turned back towards the way he was walking and continued on before speaking again to the fox.

'_Orochimaru? Why was he with us? Especially if Sasuke was on our team, that's just not smart. God dammit baa-chan what were you thinking?_

He rubbed his temple, catching the attention of Yori.

'_**You guys were apparently going to the Hidden Sound Village to retrieve something, Orochimaru came along because of his knowledge of the village and the land around, he was supposed to help.'**_

'_Help? Yea right.'_

'_**I didn't like it too, I felt something was off the moment we left your village.'**_

'_So then what happened?'_

The fox rustled around restlessly is response to his question.

'_**It failed.'**_

This caught Naruto off guard.

'_We, we failed? But how?'_

'_**Your sensei…'**_

The fox trailed off and that scared Naruto. As he spoke the fox took note of the ever present worry in his voice.

'_What the hell happened to Kakashi-sensei damn fox?'_

As the fox was about to snap back at the boy it stopped and held its tongue. Yelling at the boy wasn't going to help anything so for this time, and this time only, he'd allow the boy to take out his frustrations on him.

When the fox didn't respond he got even more worried.

'_Where is-' _"NARUTO!"

This brought him out of his mental conversation and back to the present.

'_Once this is over…once we get back home, you'd better tell me.'_

'…_**.'**_

"Narutoooo!"

"What is it Yori?" He looked for the boy but to no avail, just then he heard some rustling coming from the forest in front of him, at first he thought it was an enemy of some kind so he got into a defensive stance.

'_**Here kid'**_ said the Kyuubi, and at first nothing happened, causing Naruto to wonder what he did but then right as he started thinking that the fox was all bark and no bite a wave of energy burst through his body.

At first Naruto smiled, realizing that the Kyuubi was helping him but that soon changed into a frown. As the fox's chakra flowed through his body he realized the sheer amount that was being channeled into him.

'_**Damn brat just has to have gigantic chakra reserves; it's only because of me anyway…'**_

Once he felt that his chakra had been replenished enough he took off towards the source of Yori's voice. Running along he tried to stop the fox's chakra before he reached Yori, he didn't want to freak him out and seeing him with his fox features would surely do so.

'_Hey fox, I'm better now you can stop the chakra.'_

Right as he finished speaking the chakra subsided.

'…_**.'**_

Before Naruto could say another thing to the Kyuubi he collided with a tree.

'_Bet you think that is funny huh?'_ But there was no response from the fox.

As he slowly got up he realized what he collided with, and it wasn't a tree.

"Long time no seeee Naruto-kunnn"

* * *

**-Sakura-**

"I'm telling you guys; even ask Shino! If we keep on going this way we'll get to him! I bet on my life that's him!"

Sakura was less than pleased to be woken up from her sleep especially by that loudmouth Kiba, but once she heard the reason why, she was up and ready to go.

"I'm not saying you're wrong Kiba" This came from their leader, Shikamaru. "I'm just saying there's a possibility of it being something else."

"I know it's him, ya wanna know how I can tell it's him brainiac?" Shouted the excited boy.

The moniker that was sent towards Shikamaru went over his head as he just sighed in annoyance.

"How?"

"You remember when Naruto and Neji faced off in the finals and it seemed like Neji had just about won but then Naruto got up and there was that foul orange chakra around him?"

Shikamaru just nodded in remembrance to that event. Ever since he spotted that chakra he had tried to figure out what it was. He asked Neji but all he got from him was some grumbling about "Re-evaluating something." He also had an image to uphold so after awhile of not getting any real answers as to what kind of chakra it was he just dropped it.

'_Some things are just too troublesome.'_

"Well me and Shino were discussing it earlier when we first caught whiff of the chakra butttttt it seems to be the same kind of chakra from that match."

This caught Sakura's attention.

"So just up ahead is Naruto?"

Shikamaru however was not as ready to accept it, yes all the facts have pointed to it being Naruto but what if it wasn't? He didn't want everyone's hopes to get up for nothing.

"It's a possibility that's him." Shikamaru said as they made their way through the forest, leaping from tree to tree.

Sakura smiled to herself as she realized just how close they were to Naruto.

'_Once we get to you…'_

She just shook the thought out of her head as Shikamaru spoke.

"I do have one concern Kiba."

"What is it?"

"If I recall correctly that chakra only showed up when Naruto was on the verge of losing…I guess my question is why now."

Kiba just bit his lip as he realized what Shikamaru was implying.

"Sh-shut up, it's Naruto we're talking about here! He'd be able to handle any situation easily."

Sakura herself just looked down in sadness at Kiba's response.

'_What's going on Naruto?"_

* * *

**-Naruto-**

He flew back, the wind knocked out of him as he crashed through a tree.

'_He's strong…'_ Just thinking caused him to wince in pain.

Looking up he was able to fully get a look at the person that stood across from him.

"Or-Orochimaru"

"Fu fu fu hello Naruto"

Seeing the man who took away Sasuke stand before him ignited a fire deep within him. Without thinking and going purely on adrenaline he stood up quickly and summoned four shadow clones.

"Oh hehe I wonder which is you Naruto."

Naruto immediately sent his clones towards Orochimaru, hoping to get some sort of damage off on him.

"Come now Naruto-kun" He spoke as he side stepped two of the clones. "Don't tell me you still resent me for taking away Sasuke."

Naruto summoned four more shadow clones to assist the others.

"You can summon as many as you'd like Naruto." He shot his arm out and eight snakes came out, eliminating each shadow clone."

"Don't you see boy? This is why your precious Sasuke came with me; I hold all the power, all the knowledge, Konoha was just holding him back!" He spoke angrily his words coming out like daggers to Naruto. "I unlocked his true potential!" With that Orochimaru shot a wave of snakes at Naruto. Before Naruto could react and move out of the way he realized that the snakes from earlier had latched themselves around his legs, rendering him immobile.

Naruto tried kicking his legs out but to no avail. He just looked up right in time for the snakes to hit him, sending him flying back through the forest.

Orochimaru cackled to himself as he saw the blond-haired boy's body strewn over a tree.

As he took a step forward he heard a sizzling sound and he looked around him for the source of it. What he saw caused him to smile, all around him lay explosive tags.

'_So that's what your plan was, sending the shadow clones at me was only a distraction, not bad boy, maybe if things were dif-' _He was cut off as the tags detonated around him, causing a huge explosion.

* * *

**-Sakura-**

"What was that Shikimaru?" The team just heard an explosion and Sakura was the first to speak up.

"I don't know for certain but I'd bet on the fact that whatever that just was, had to do with Naruto."

The rest of the team nodded.

"Alright everyone, double-time!"

A unified "Hai!" was given in response as they darted even faster towards the source of the sound.

* * *

**-Naruto-**

He slowly got up, his body racked with pain as he surveyed the damage that had just been done.

Looking around he saw a crater in the distance with a body lying in it.

'_Did I get him?'_

He took one step forward before the real effects of Orochimaru's attack showed, causing his body to fall over and roll into the fetal position.

'_Poison, fuck'_

'_**I can't do anything boy…I'm sorry.'**_ The fox's voice surprised Naruto, but his answer didn't. Orochimaru was a deadly bastard; of course he'd lace his attacks with poison.

'_Don't blame yourself, it was my own stupidity.'_

'…_**.'**_

As he was about to try crawling forward a shadow fell over him and he heard a "poof" in the distance.

'_Shadow clone…Orochimaru you bastard.'_

He turned his face towards the person standing over him but who was standing there surprised him.

"Yori"

The boy looked at Naruto before kneeling down and raising Naruto's body up, running his hands over his body.

"I'm so sorry Naruto"

"Wha-"

As he fell back to the ground he wondered what happened.

'_He said sorry, Why, why Yori?'_

'_It's all because of Orochimaru, dammit'_

Naruto watched as Yori quickly got up and went over to Orochimaru who seemed unharmed.

"Ku ku that was impressive Naruto, you almost had me."

He turned around and walked away, motioning for Yori to follow, he quickly fell behind him as he followed his master.

'_Damn you….you took another one of my friends'_

He tried to get up, to chase after him, to do anything to stop him from going but he couldn't. He tried moving but his legs wouldn't respond to the commands he was sending.

'_What kind of poison is this? He only hit me once with that attack yet the way my body feels it's like he struck me over and over. I can't even move my hand that much anymore.'_

Naruto rolled over onto his back, trying to start some sort of movement in his body but it didn't work.

'_I failed, I failed, I failed, I can't save anyone.'_

He shut his eyes to try and stop the tears from rolling down his face but it was too late.

'_Baa-chan, Ero-sennin….Sakura-chan, anyone please help me, please.'_

"NARUTO" screamed the familiar voice.

'_Who?'_ Was all he was able to say as his eyes finally closed, but not before they caught a quick glimpse of pink.

**A/N: Woooo! I just nearly wrote the entire chapter today. I hope you guys still enjoyed it and I hope that my first "fight scene" wasn't too shabby, I know not much happened in it but what did you expect Naruto to do? He's been in a cave for so long and now he has to face Orochimaru, of course he'd get his ass handed to him, even with the fox's chakra in him. As I finished typing this chapter I felt happy with how it came out, and I can't wait to start the next one. Have a great day c:**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**I have to apologize about not putting this chapter up last week, a few things conflicted with it. I had a few papers for school(Which totally sucked) and a presentation(Which I totally aced). Also I ran into a bit of writers block, to be honest I don't know how I feel about this chapter, it was just…difficult to write. **

**Mangaka Shuzen: I'm glad you enjoyed it, I thought it was pretty risk to do.**

**XxAshishxX: Neither can I ;)**

It was dark, murky.

'_Where am I?' _he thought.

…

There was no response.

He didn't understand, what happened?

'_Did I mess up? Why is it is so cold?'_

Another thought…a darker thought came to him then.

'_Am I dead?'_

….

Again there was no response, he was starting to get sc-.

'_It'll be alright darling…'_

'_Wha-? That voice…'_ he started panicking now. '_Is it that damn fox?'_

…..

'_Am I just hearing things or.?.'_

'_It'll be alright…Naruto.'_

* * *

She slouched into her chair, it had been another long day and the worst part hadn't even started yet. She still had to go see _him._

* * *

**-Flashback-**

Tsunade strutted into her office slowly, the day's events had been even more taxing on her then they usually were.

"I swear if I have to hear those damned council members argue one more time over my drinking habits I will show them something they really need to argue over."

She smirked to herself as she smacked her biceps.

'_I still got it' _she thought to herself as she made her way to her desk.

Removing the Hokage robes and the hat she lowered herself into the wooden chair that had become a sort of second home to her.

"I spend way too much time here." She muttered to herself as she leaned forward, reaching underneath the desk to grab one of the few things that made her happy.

'_Yeah right..'_ she thought as she pushed all of the papers that cluttered all over her desk onto the floor before kicking her shoes off and putting them on top of the desk. Something that always agitated her best friend and trusted assistant, Shizune.

'_Tsunade please …argh don't put your bottle…eeek stop it! Let me have Tonton back please milady…'_

She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered all the times she spent with her friend.

'_Remember that one time..'_

She was brought out of the thought as a knock resounded on her door. Not wanting to get up she just yelled at whoever it was.

"Who is it?"

There was a stalled silence afterwards almost making her think it was a prank. '_Those damn office workers are always fucking around, well I'll teach the-'._

Before she could think of any more devious ways to torture, erhm, she meant teach them some respect; the door to her office flew open. Standing in the doorway to her office was someone she didn't expect to see at least not so soon.

"Tsunade-shishou, we need your help." Said the pink-haired kunoichi, stress easily visible on her face. The fact that Sakura was back only meant one thing.

'_He's back.'_

But before she could relax she remembered Sakura's question.

"What is it? Does it have something to do with Naruto? What's happened?"

The barrage of questions and her high strained voice would have scared Sakura if she didn't know how much Tsunade cared for the little knucklehead.

"I…I don't know." Spoke Sakura, her voice cracking as she continued. "We were getting ready to go out and look for Naruto when Kiba and Shino told us they had caught scent of him, or actually _his chakra."_

When Tsunade heard that, her blood immediately turned cold. '_Did he use the nine-tailed fox's chakra? Damn it Naruto you reckless brat.'_

"Be-Before we knew it we stumbled across him…the thing is Shishuo..we don't know what's happening to him." Tears flowed freely down Sakura's face as she finished her story and before she could even ask her sensei if she would help, Tsunade was gone.

**-Flashback End-**

* * *

Ever since that day she had been going to the hospital to work on Naruto. The first time she got there she nearly gagged. Seeing him on the hospital bed, hooked up to all those machines, tubes inserted into his arms and legs, was one of the worst things she'd ever seen.

'_You're going to be Hokage you baka! Wake up, wake up! Call me baa-chan, anything that'll just let me know you're still there…please.'_ The grief stricken face of the hokage waited but when she was only greeted with the beep of the pacemaker and the gentle hum of the other machines in the room, she realized that just standing around wasn't going to get him back up on his feet.

She didn't need help, she was _the Hokage _of the Hidden Leaf Village and she would be damned if she was going to let one knucklehead die on her watch.

Gathering all of her equipment she was about to check over his body to figure out what exactly was affecting him but she was interrupted as the door to the operating room opened, followed by the voice of the one person she expected the most.

"Shishuo"

…..

Again

"Shishuo"

….

"Tsunade!"

"Damn it Sakura what do you want?" It came out as a shout; she meant for it to, she didn't have time to play games with Sakura.

"I want to help shishou." Meeting Tsunade's eyes, a silent understanding passed between the two and after a few moments Sakura stepped towards the operating table, moving her hands over Naruto's body to get a read on what is plaguing him. Tsunade just stood there, slightly awestruck at what her apprentice had just done.

'_Sakura…you've become so strong..' _She smiled asshe looked on, Sakura wasn't the same helpless girl that she had been when she had first started teaching her.

'_No, she's changed so much, it's like..'_

"You just going to stand there…baa-chan?" Sakura said, her tone playful but the look on her face was serious. She was already done with her scans.

The sound of her apprentices voice brought her out of the thought and she realized now wasn't the time to be standing around gawking.

'_We'll save you Naruto…it's a promise.' _She nodded her head.

With that last thought the legendary sannin stood next to her apprentice and started working.

Just like old times, eh shishou?

* * *

She swiveled around in her chair so she was facing the window, a glass of sake in hand. Days like today really pissed her off, meetings, meetings, and more meetings, she didn't understand how her grandpa could have dealt with the council, they were just a whiny bunch of old people. More importantly she didn't understand why she dealt with them. It was for him really. '_Naruto.'_

Her thoughts turned to the boy in question. It had been a month since he had been brought back, a month where he had been operated on nonstop to remove the poison that had rooted itself within him.

She didn't even understand what had caused him to receive this poison, or where it was from. That was until she was able to extract a sample, that's when that son of a bitch's name reentered her mouth.

'_Orochimaru'_

That sick bastard had done this to Naruto, meaning one thing, they fought.

Why would Naruto fight him? Did he not understand how strong Orochimaru was?

'_That baka'_

Once she figured out who caused the poison she realized just how much harder her job had just become, Orochimaru was a genius at creating deadly weapons, a posion would be child's play for him.

She was ready to work long hours to save him, Sakura was too, but then they received a surprise. Two weeks in and the poison was completely gone from his body, they had been able to safely extract all of it, Naruto however still hadn't woken up, and that worried her.

Finishing her glass of sake she placed the glass underneath her desk before getting up and leaving her office.

Making her way through the streets of Konoha she noticed the changing color of the leaves that lay scattered across the ground. It was becoming cooler, fall was approaching.

As she finally reached the hospital she looked up, she knew where his room was like the back of her hand, it was on the top floor. Only people who were either extremely important or those who were very wounded stayed there, he was both.

Waving to the receptionists she made her way up the long winding stairs to his room. She really didn't like visiting this place, it reminded her too much of blood, death, she shivered.

Knocking on his door she was surprised to see the door slowly open, as if inviting her in.

'_Why was his door open? Did one of those nurses forget to lock it?'_

Slowly she took a step inside the room and then immediately felt sick. The machines weren't beeping; the bed sheets were thrown aside, and a sandal, most likely his, was laying upside down on the floor.

_Naruto was gone._

She ran out of the building as fast as she could.

LINE BREAK

He sat on the top of the Hokage's Tower, just like he had done so with The Third, admiring the village he had come to love, no matter how much the people hated him.

Sighing, he was about to get up but stopped as he heard something, a pitter patter.

'_Oh no…' _he bit the inside of his cheek, preparing for the worst.

"Baka…" she said softly, tears rolling down her face.

He turned around to face her, scratching the back of his head he gave a nervous smile before speaking.

"H-Hey Sakura-chan." He stuttered as he spoke, turning around to face her he held his breath as he finally saw her, she was still as beautiful as he remembered.

"N-Naruto…"

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, this chapter and the next will of course focus primarily on the meeting between the two. Also I must once again apologize for the wait for this chapter, I hope you guys understand. Hope you guys have a great day c:**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**ILuvYouHaters: It was too tempting to resist, im sorry :3**

**XxAshishxX: Thank you c:**

**Recap **

He turned around to face her; scratching the back of his head he gave a nervous smile before speaking.

"H-Hey Sakura-chan." He stuttered as he spoke, turning around to face her he held his breath as he finally saw her; she was still as beautiful as he remembered.

"N-Naruto…"

* * *

His smile slowly turned into a frown and he stopped scratching his head as he watched her break down in front of him, her figure shivering as her cries fluttered out across the way.

Thinking of what to say he slowly stepped forward, trying to get closer to her so he could just say something, anything that might help her calm down.

Across from him Sakura didn't even take notice of his presence approaching her. Her eyes were blurred from the sweet tears that clouded them. It wasn't until she wiped them off did she notice him.

…..

He stood so close to her, as if he was afraid she wasn't real and he had to reach and touch her to make sure.

'_His breath…I can feel it, see it, it smells nice, like honeydew.' _She blushed as his breath tickled her body, yet making her feel warm all at the same time.

"Naruto, I…I-" She was silenced as his finger landed on top of her lips.

After what felt like a few very long moments, he retracted his finger, speaking softly as he did.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable I just had to make sure this wasn't a dream." As he said that last part he balled his hands and shoved them into his pockets, biting his lip nervously.

'_He's so…' _she shook her head lightly, causing Naruto to raise an eyebrow in question at the spectacle he was watching

'_This is Naruto we're speaking of here!'_ She tried to reassure herself before her thoughts could turn bad.

Noticing that he was watching her, she quickly stopped the conversation she was having in her head.

'_We will talk about this later!'_

'_Fine!'_

With the conversation over she turned her attention towards the baka standing in front of her.

Naruto was confused..to say the least.

"Uhm, are you alright Sakura? He asked curiously.

"Yea, yea, don't worry about it." Sakura brushed it off.

Before Naruto could say something else pertaining to the way she was acting, Sakura blurted out "How are you feeling Naruto?"

Stretching his arms out, he sighed. "I'm fine Sakura-chan." His voice cracked and he broke eye contact with her. "I promise.."

She noted the change in his voice and reached her hand out, trying to touch his face to bring his attention back to her.

"Naruto-" She started

"I'm sorry Sakura..I think I'm just feeling a bit tired" He whispered out before turning so his back was to her.

Sakura just stood there, the warm feeling that she had felt when he had touched her lips was gone and what she felt now was something she'd wish would go away, fear.

Fear that he was scared; fear that he wouldn't talk to her anymore, fear that she had done something wrong.

'_Why do I always fuck up?' _She thought absent-mindedly, her head leaning back to face the sky, as if the answer to her question was out there.

A familiar feeling came through her and she shut her eyes and covered her mouth._ 'If he hears me he'll just feel bad for me…how pathetic I must be.' _A single tear rolled down her rosy cheeks and she shuddered in anticipation of more to come.

Then _it_ happened.

* * *

They made their way through the forest, jumping from tree to tree as if their lives depended on it. It was getting darker and darker and he was getting hungry, but they couldn't stop, the leader of the two wouldn't let them.

Not paying attention to where he was going the boy ran into something hard. It must've been a tree. When he shook his head to dispel the dizziness he let his eyes focus in on what he hit. Or he meant, who he hit. It wasn't tree. It was his him, his master.

"Orochimaru-sama, I'm so very sorry." He got onto his knees and started asking for forgiveness. He didn't want to receive another scolding like he had before.

Turning around to face the boy Orochimaru put his hands on the boy's shoulder, signaling for Yori to stop groveling.

"Calm down Yoriiii." He said carefully, putting extra emphasis on the boy's name to hopefully calm him down.

It didn't.

Yori flinched at the use of his name in such a way; Orochimaru had said it in such a way that made it seem like he was his most precious object.

He didn't believe he was. He was trash; no he was worse than trash, just a blemish really.

Even his name, the one thing that he had once treasured, was nothing more but another cause of this never ending nightmare he felt was his life.

'_It's all because of you!'_ He thought selfishly before realizing his mistake. '_I-I'm sorry Naruto-sensei..I'm sorry I hurt you, that I couldn't help you, I didn't want to..but he told me otherwise.'_

* * *

"_Narutoooo!" Yelled the now frightened young boy, standing in front of him was a large shadowy figure._

_Squinting his eyes he tried to figure out the person stood before him._

"_Ahh, what are you doing outside boy?" Came the now familiar voice._

"_Orochimaru-sama…" He trailed off before the figure turned to face him. Standing in front of Yori was the Legendary Snake Master himself._

_Unable to figure out what he should be feeling he was grabbed by the wrist, his mouth covered by Orochimaru's hand._

"_What is it Yori?" Shouted the blond ninja, surprising Orochimaru as to who he was with._

"_You're here with himmmm?" Orochimaru flicked his tongue in anticipation to the very sudden burst of chakra. Naruto's chakra._

_Yori began fidgeting, why was Orochimaru getting excited?_

"_Yoriii?" Orochimaru whispered out. _

"_Y-Yes?" He stuttered, why was he getting so nervous now?_

"_Don't interfere with what I'm about to do alright? When I give you the signal I need you to put him down." He spoke quickly, preparing to surprise Naruto._

"_What? Why are we attacking Naruto-san? He's helped me, he gave me a..a name." Looking down Yori played with a leaf that lay near his feet._

"_So that's what he gave you for a name?" He clicked his tongue in disgust. "That boy has tainted my most precious….item." _

_Yori's face lit up at the mention of how much he meant._

"_Hngh, I'll clean you when we get to another base…for now just stay back and wait for it, alright?" _

"_Hai"_

* * *

Coming out of his of thoughts Yori noticed that Orochimaru had set up a little camp, surprising him.

"Orochimaru-sama what are you doing?" He asked curiously.

"Why I set up a camp Yori, I most certainly am not going to let you sleep on this forest floor." Answered Orochimaru.

Hearing his answer caused Yori to be even more confused, but he was grateful anyway, it was better than sleeping underneath that table which had become his everything while he was in the laboratory.

"Orochimaru, if I may, I have a question."

"Yes?" Orochimaru turned to face him, intrigued by what Yori could want to know.

"Where are we heading too exactly?" He asked, the question had bothered him for awhile now, all they were doing, it seemed to him, was just going from tree to tree with no end in sight.

Orochimaru nearly flinched in response to the surprising question, causing Yori to wonder.

"While we're heading to my lab of course, it's in Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass."

"Kusa…Why are we heading there, I thought you said we were going to the one lab in the east." The boy asked, curiosity springing inside him.

"NO!" Orochimaru screeched out, frightening Yori. "We can't go there! Not anymore!" Orochimaru rushed over to Yori, griping his shoulders in a death-like grip, causing him to flinch.

Yori shut his eyes in fear, tears escaping him as he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He yelled back.

As the haze cleared from his mind, Orochimaru released him, then walked away, not saying a single word as he layed down on the matt, his back facing the now scarred boy.

'_What happened Orochimaru..sama?"_ He thought sadly as night consumed the now quiet campsite.

* * *

He woke up with a cold sweat, his heart racing as he recovered from the nightmare he was experiencing.

Removing himself from the mat, he pushed himself off the ground and quickly scanned the area to see if there was anything amiss. After he confirmed with himself that they were okay he caught something in the corner of eye.

Slowly he made his way over to the sleeping figure of Orochimaru.

As he approached him he looked over his body, trying to see if there were more of what he say on his body.

Burns, torn skin, scratch marks, these weren't from his fight from Naruto.

'_Who did this to you?'_

* * *

She stood still,trying to process what was happening, warm air ran down her neck slowly, it was torturing her, but it felt so good.

Naruto was hugging her, her..her. He was warm, like his whole body had been kissed by the sun and it felt sooo nice.

She stood there, the tears that had been at her eyes had disappeared, her cheeks had gotten inexplicably red and her breaths had shortened. Then he spoke ever so softly into the crook of her neck and she thought she would burst from the way his breath rolled over her body.

"Don't cry Sakura-chan, I'm sorry."

**A/N: Ta-da! I really loved this chapter, I really love NaruSaku but I do have to say something, what about that most recent Naruto chapter? Holy shiiiii- that was one crazy ass chapter, right now the entire fandom is a mess lol and I can positively say that SasuSaku is dead, literally lol. Anyway have a great day c:**

**PS: Did you guys pick up what happened to Orochimaru? If not you might want to go back to earlier in the story and reread.**


End file.
